Tash Lyall wins Young Leader award.
Last year, Tash Lyall was in Year 8 at Millthorpe School, York. Since joining Millthorpe in 2016, Tash has developed a huge passion for cricket. Her PE Teacher, Sarah Watts, revealed that historically Tash has been discouraged from taking part in any sports teams due to her additional needs that require support in school. Following her involvement in a Chance to Shine taster session, Tash’s response was remarkable; she loved cricket and wanted to join the school cricket club that Sarah was running. Tash attended this every week and grew in confidence as time went by, stating that this was the first team she had ever been a part of. Millthorpe entered the Lady Taverners U13s Indoor competition in 2016, which Tash was part of. The school went on to win the York Area round - Tash being delighted when they received a surprise delivery of the trophy!
Tash, along with 10 other girls, were asked to take part in the Young Leaders Award - with all the girls developing skills and confidence to be able to deliver in-front of the rest of the class. Being the youngest and least confident, Tash was very shy to begin with. The other young leaders provided a relaxed environment where Tash felt she could start to create and deliver warm ups to the class with the support of Sarah. Throughout her 10-minute delivery, Tash started to beam with confidence, her voice became clearer and she grew in confidence when it came to instructing the other girls.
During her time with the school cricket club, Tash was asked to create a game of her choice and deliver it to the rest of her group. Tash’s game of ‘Rolo cricket’ was a huge hit with the girls. She delivered this independently and with great confidence, all while being filmed! Tash then moved on to deliver coaching advice to new members of the school girls' cricket club and, as part of the club's requirement, set up and led the sessions.
As part of the leadership award, the girls watched a game on the large screen and practiced their scoring and umpiring. Following this, during the U13s/U15s Girls’ Indoor competition this year, Tash umpired and scored the games herself.
Tash thoroughly deserves the Young Leaders Award as her confidence, commitment and engagement has improved dramatically and has led to her contributing to the game in so many ways. Tash’s love for cricket has been amazing and she takes huge pride in everything she does, whether that’s during her own games of cricket or when supporting others during theirs.